29 September 2004	Wednesday	13 Shaban 1425

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KARACHI, Sept 28: PPP Sindh chief Syed Qaim Ali Shah said on Tuesday that water shortage was deliberately being created by the government to justify the construction of Kalabagh dam.

Syed Qaim Ali Shah declared that his party and the people of Sindh would not allow construction of Kalabagh dam. Speaking at a news conference in his chamber in Sindh Assembly, he said that Sindh had already been getting less water, and the situation further aggravated with the closure of canals which was likely to adversely affect rice and sugarcane crops.

He claimed that due to water shortage, Irri-6 would be negatively affected and demanded guarantees that Sindh would get its due share of water in accordance with the 1991 accord.

Mr Shah said that the government was dragging its feet on water issue and was making deceptive statements. He said that if the government was really serious about the issue, it should have supported the opposition's proposed resolution on Kalabagh dam and other water related concerns.

Mr Shah demanded that Council of Common Interests be immediately constituted to resolve this issue which was a matter of life and death for Sindh. Mr Shah said that news about 60 per cent shortage of water for the Kharif crop was alarming and would seriously affect these crops.

Due to water shortage, IRRI-6 which is cultivated in Larkana, Jacobabad and Shikarpur areas and was a foreign exchange earner, would face setbacks and there would be a loss in terms of output and revenue.

He said that water shortage in Rabi season would also affect wheat crop and the country might be compelled to import it to meet its needs. He termed the government policy on water a violation of the constitution and 1991 water accord. He said that the Council of Common Interest had at that time decided if there was excess water, provinces could store but it did not permit construction of dams.

He said that the government was talking of constructing the Kalabagh dam just to please a particular section of the population. He was of the view that the government was deliberately creating issues so that attention of the oppressed masses could be distracted.

Replying to a question Syed Qaim Ali Shah reiterated his party's opposition to the LFO and Gen Pervez Musharraf retaining the military post while holding the office of the president of the country.

He told a questioner that there was no question of any deal between government and the PPP. In this context, he said that Asif Ali Zardari had also made a statement in this regard which was self evident.

Mr Shah said the opposition had requisitioned a session to discuss water and law and order and host of other issues but the government called its own session. He pointed out that Speaker Syed Muzaffar Hussain Shah, despite promising a ruling, did not do so.

PPP MPA: Shazia Mari, a Pakistan People's Party Parliamentarians' MPA, has challenged the government contention that during 1994 ministerial meeting the then government had supported the Greater Thal Canal.

There was no agreement between Punjab and Sindh in the 1994 ministerial meeting, Shazia Mari said, adding, until 1999 surpluses and shortages were shared as per 1991 accord.

In 1999, she said, it was suddenly decided that share of water would be as per historical uses and this in turn led to a massive sea intrusion due to non-availability of water for downstream Kotri. This was done despite an assurance from the upper riparian province, she said.

She maintained that in a meeting, presided over by the federal minister for water and power on May 2, 1994, the representative from Punjab circulated a paper which proposed that sharing of shortages should be on the basis of historical use.

The members from Sindh (Haji Zafar Leghari, Syed Ali Gohar Shah and late Abdul Rasool Memon) had opposed this proposal on the premise that it was a violation of the 1991 accord.

The federal minister had assured them that the accord would not be violated. However, in the minutes of the subject meeting, it was stated that Sindh and Punjab had agreed to share shortages as per historical uses.

The Sindh government, she said, had strongly objected to this "fabrication" and claimed that evidence was to be found in the form of a letter sent by Mr A.R. Memon to the federal government. The Sindh government was assured that the meeting was only of an advisory nature.

Her contention was that in Sept 1991 wrongful induction of the Greater Thal Canal was seen in the ten dailies, given by Punjab. She pointed out that Mr Alam Baloch, an expert from Sindh, along with its chief minister and chief secretary, had strongly objected to this. Proof of this was presented in the form of a letter written by Mr Idrees Rajput, the then secretary of irrigation, Sindh, she said.

Ms Mari said the 1994 inter-provincial ministerial meeting was another favourite scapegoat of the treasury benches, particularly the provincial minister from Badin (Pappoo Shah) who, she said, had wrongfully termed the meeting as 1994 accord.